San Diego Reader

Cathedral
435 University Avenue, Hillcrest
(619) 296-4046

It's stocked with candles, holders, baubles, and hand-painted Mexican Day of the Dead doohickeys. But it is the fragrance, wafting out the door, that hooks its fingers in the noses of passersby. The shop is small and well-cluttered, so the scents concentrate in one intense cloud about the space. The trick for candle-smelling shoppers is to get it right up the nose. Go ahead, stick the wax right up inside your nostril, no one's looking. Now, take a big whiff. What's that, patchouli? Nice. What about that, gardenia? Mmm.